


The One with the Kitten (and the Forgotten Simon)

by machtaholic (cinderella81)



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Animal Transformation, M/M, Magic, Memory Loss, Pre-Relationship, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-15
Updated: 2017-10-15
Packaged: 2019-01-17 23:03:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12375963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cinderella81/pseuds/machtaholic
Summary: Jace arrives back from a mission to find the girls all cooing over a small kitten they've named Shadow - who attaches himself to Jace.  At the same time, everyone (except Jace) forgets about Simon.  In trying to fix things and get everyone to remember Simon, Jace comes to a few realizations.





	The One with the Kitten (and the Forgotten Simon)

Jace swept rain soaked hair out of his face as he stepped into the entryway of the Institute after a brutal battle with a couple of rogue werewolves (he’d had to call Luke in to help him out), and came to a full stop just inside the door. It looked like every female in the Institute had crowded into the entryway and … was that crying?

“What’s going on?” Jace called. “If you guys could make a hole so I can get to my room, that’d be great. Or I could just drip dry here.” The battle had started indoors, but had quickly moved outdoors. Into the pouring rain.

The crying suddenly stopped, but the girls all shrieked and jumped out of the way of something. Jace felt a bit of tugging on his pants and frowned as he watched a small, wet, grey kitten claw its way up his pant leg.

Jace carefully extricated the kitten from his pants and held it up, eyeing it warily. 

“What is this doing in here?” Jace asked.

“Isn’t he adorable?” Clary asked. “He wandered in completely soaked, but he wouldn’t stop crying.”

“Until you showed up,” Izzy added with a grin.

“Okay,” Jace said, setting the kitten down on the ground. “Have fun taking care of him.”

The second Jace put the kitten down on the ground, he started crying again. Loud wails that made everyone in the Institute look over to where Jace was standing.

“We named him Shadow and I think he likes you,” Clary said.

Jace frowned and picked the kitten back up, his frown deepening when the kitten - Shadow - immediately stopped crying.

“Well, I need to get to my room and clean up,” Jace said, motioning to his torn and bloodied clothes. “What am I going to do with a cat?”

“Make a nest for Shadow and let him sleep,” Clary said.

“On your bed,” Izzy added. “It’s cold outside and our floors are cold. Your bed is warmer and Shadow needs to be warmed up.”

Jace sighed and tucked Shadow into the crook of his arm. “He’s not going on missions,” he muttered as he made his way through the crowd of women, all cooing, and headed to his room.

Once in his room, Jace made a little nest with a blanket and set Shadow in it, staring down at the cat.

“So you only cry when other people are around,” Jace said when Shadow hadn’t immediately started crying after being set down. 

Shadow let out a tiny ‘meow’.

“I’m going to go clean up,” Jace said. “What am I doing? It’s just a cat.” He rolled his eyes and headed for the bathroom, stripping as he walked. When he finally stepped under the hot spray of the shower, he sighed happily; activating the healing rune would heal wounds, but not aching muscles. And a battle with werewolves always left him muscle sore and bone tired.

Jace took his time under the water, letting the hot water ease his aches and wash away the lingering blood. When he stepped out of the shower, wrapped a towel around his waist and reached for a towel to dry his hair, he jumped when he found Shadow sitting in the doorway to the bathroom.

“Weren’t you supposed to stay on the bed?” Jace stared down at the cat and sighed. “I have no idea what to do with a cat.” He toweled both himself and his hair dry and hung both towels up, running a brush through his hair and staring down at Shadow for a moment. Shadow let out a soft ‘meow’ and Jace sighed, picking Shadow up and carrying him into the bedroom.

“Stay on the bed,” Jace said as he dropped Shadow back into the small nest on his bed before rummaging around in his dresser for underwear and sleep pants.

When he got dressed and turned around, he found Shadow standing on the end of the bed staring at him.

“Really?”

Jace picked up Shadow, and again dropped him in the nest, moving the nest to the end of the bed before turning off the lights and slipping under the sheets, quickly falling asleep.

Sunlight through the window woke Jace the next morning, as well as the feeling of slight tugging on his hair. Jace pried one eye open and frowned; Shadow had crawled up the bed and decided Jace’s hair made a good toy - he was batting and tugging at Jace’s hair with his tiny claws.

“Stop that,” Jace muttered, swatting at Shadow sleepily.

A few minutes later Jace groaned and sat up, picking Shadow up and holding him at eye level, frowning when Shadow still tried to play with his hair.

“My hair,” Jace said, “is not a toy.”

Shadow reached out with tiny paws and swat at Jace’s sleep mussed hair.

Jace groaned and dropped Shadow on the blankets before climbing out of bed. He padded to the bathroom and when he stepped back out, he found Shadow at the end of the bed, watching Jace intently. Jace just rubbed his face and got dressed, ignoring the cat for the time being.

Jace tugged his hair back in a small ponytail and headed for the training area to get a session in before breakfast, making sure to close his door behind him. As he headed for the training area, he heard soft laughter follow him - he turned around and found Shadow padding after him.

“Thought I closed you in the room,” Jace muttered. “Just don’t get in the way.” He turned and continued on his trek to the training area.

He reached the training area and found Alec already there warming up. 

“What’s that?” Alec asked when he saw Shadow.

“A cat,” Jace said. “Who apparently has decided I’m to be his caretaker.”

“He’s kinda cute,” Alec said.

The cat let out a little ‘meow’ and sat down at the edge of the mat.

“Whatever,” Jace said as he sat down on the mat and began to stretch.

“Looks like the cat likes you,” Alec said, nodding over to where Shadow had inched closer and closer to where Jace sat.

Jace sighed and reached over, scratching Shadow between his ears. “Decided my hair was a toy this morning,” he muttered.

“That’s what you get for not sleeping with your hair pulled back.” Izzy appeared next to Jace and gave his ponytail a tug. “Come on, you two gonna gossip all morning or are we going to spar?”

“Spar.” Jace stood and gave one more stretch before grabbing a staff and moving to the center of the mat. “Let’s go.”

A few hours later, Jace headed to get some breakfast for himself and some chicken for Shadow. He headed out to the garden and sat down on one of the benches, eating breakfast while Shadow ate from a small plate on the ground.

It was nice. Peaceful.

He didn’t even mind when Shadow fell asleep on his foot.

* * * 

Shadow became the unofficial New York Institute mascot in the next few days. He was seen either following Jace, earning many a smile, or tucked into the pocket of the hoodies Jace took to wearing in the Institute.

Izzy had even gotten Shadow a blue collar with a little name tag hanging from it.

Shadow would let the other Shadowhunters pet him, but would let no one but Jace hold him, which everyone found adorable.

“It’s so adorable,” Clary said as they all sat around the garden, eating lunch.

“What?” Jace said as he fed Shadow a bit of chicken.

“That Shadow has attached himself to you,” Clary said. 

Jace shrugged as he fed Shadow another piece of chicken. “If Simon had been here, Shadow would have attached himself to Simon,” he said. “He seems more of a cat person.”

“Who?” Izzy asked.

“Yeah, who’s Simon?” Clary asked.

Jace looked around the small circle, at the confused looks on Clary, Izzy and Alec’s faces, and frowned.

“You guys don’t remember Simon,” Jace said, wincing when Shadow scratched Jace’s hand a bit. 

“Doesn’t ring a bell,” Alec said.

“Clary, Simon Lewis is your best friend,” Jace said.

“Izzy’s my best friend,” Clary said. “You okay, Jace?”

“Yeah, ‘m fine,” Jace said, absentmindedly petting Shadow.

“You sure?” Alec said. “Haven’t taken any bit hits recently?”

“I’m fine,” Jace said, standing and tucking Shadow into the front pocket of his hoodie. “Promise. I’m just going to head inside.”

“Sure,” Izzy said.

“Catch you later,” Alec added.

Jace went to clean his lunch plates, made sure Shadow was secure in his hoodie and left the Institute in search of answers.

* * * 

“Jace, this is an unexpected surprise.” Magnus stepped back and let Jace into his apartment, a frown marring his features.

“Magnus,” Jace started, “can a warlock change reality?”

“In what way?” Magnus said, leading Jace into the living room.

“Could a warlock change reality to make everyone forget a person?” Jace said, reaching down to pet Shadow, who had poked his head out and was looking around curiously.

“That would take quite a bit of power,” Magnus said. “And would cause a substantial drain on the warlock’s powers. A large group of warlocks could perhaps accomplish that. Why do you ask?”

“What about Seelies?” 

“The only one with enough power to potentially do that would be the Seelie Queen,” Magnus replied. “Jace, what is going on?”

“Do you remember Simon?” Jace asked.

“Simon,” Magnus said slowly. “The name isn’t familiar.”

Jace sighed and continued to pet Shadow. “I think the Seelie Queen cast some magic,” he said. “And maybe she did it while I was … deceased.” Shadow butted his head against Jace’s hand and Jace scratched Shadow between his ears.

“If the Seelie Queen did cast a spell like that prior to your being brought back,” Magnus said, “it would explain why you remember this Simon person while everyone else does not.”

“Okay,” Jace said slowly. “What do I do?”

“Well, the simplest thing would be to ask the Seelie Queen to reverse the magic,” Magnus said.

“But we both know she gets far too much joy out of the suffering of others to do that,” Jace said. “What else can we do?”

“Breaking the Seelie Queen’s magic won’t be easy,” Magnus said, then smiled as he finally noticed the cat. “And who is this?”

“A stray who wandered into the Institute,” Jace said. “The girls named him Shadow, and he attached himself to me, almost literally.”

“He’s adorable,” Magnus said. “Like I was saying, breaking the Seelie Queen’s magic won’t be easy, especially if she changed reality.”

“But it can be done?” Jace asked.

“Yes,” Magnus said. “It won’t be easy. You will need to try to … bring this Simon back, as it were. Make him a reality, which will break whatever the Seelie Queen has done to remove him from reality.”

Jace frowned. “Not sure if I know how to do that,” he admitted. “Clary knew him better than me, they were best friends. I’m just the only guy who still remembers him.”

“Can you draw?” Magnus asked.

“That’s a random question to ask,” Jace said. “I can, a bit.”

“I have an idea,” Magnus said as he stood and moved over to a table where he had a bunch of herbs and elixirs. 

Jace stood and moved to stand next to Magnus, watching him work quietly. Shadow would let out a soft ‘meow’ every now and then, but otherwise the apartment was quiet.

“Some rosemary, some sage, a little periwinkle,” Magnus said, crushing the herbs and mixing them with pomegranate juice.

“What are you doing?” Jace asked.

“Those are all herbs that help with memory,” Magnus said. “And pomegranate juice is also good for memory. I am going to create an ink with this and soak some paper in the solution as well.”

“And?”

“I’m going to have you sketch a few pictures of Simon, and write down what you remember,” Magnus said, dipping sheets of paper into the solution. “You’ll use the ink I create and the paper I’m soaking. Make sure to give it to Isabelle, Clary and Alexander. Make sure they touch it, let the solution soak into their fingers as they read.”

“And they’ll remember?” Jace asked. Shadow had gotten curious and had crept out of Jace’s hoodie and climbed up onto his shoulders, peering down at what Magnus was doing.

“It might help to jog their memories,” Magnus said as he hung up the paper to dry and began to make the ink. “Memory is an interesting thing; you can’t push or pull on a memory or you’ll lose your grasp on it. You have to coax it out, tempt it a bit.”

“And this will tempt it.” Jace sniffed at the solution and made a face.

“It should,” Magnus said. “The Seelie Queen has very strong magic, but if she did change reality, then memories of Simon are just being repressed. This should help release them. Hopefully.”

“Hopefully.” Jace sighed softly as Shadow nuzzled his neck a bit. “And it all rests on me.”

Shadow let out a soft ‘meow’.

A few minutes later, Magnus produced three sheets of slightly red paper and a pen. “Now, take this back to the Institute with you,” he said. “Draw one for Isabelle, one for Clary and one for Alexander. Write down whatever you can remember about Simon as well.”

“And if this doesn’t work?” Jace asked, taking the items from Magnus and tucking Shadow back into the pocket of his hoodie.

“We’ll deal with it then,” Magnus said. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”

“Right,” Jace said. “Thanks, Magnus.”

* * * 

“What’s this?”

Jace ignored Izzy’s question and handed her, Clary and Alec all the portraits of Simon he’d meticulously drawn, using Magnus’ special ink. Included around the portraits were little tidbits of information he knew about Simon; he didn’t know much, but he’d written down everything he knew.

“Something I made for each of you,” Jace said. “You guys forgot Simon and somehow I’m the only one who remembers him. So you’re going to take these.”

“Okay,” Clary said, sniffing the paper experimentally and frowning.

“And you’re going to take them to your rooms and read them,” Jace said. “You’re going to hold the paper in your hands and read what I wrote and think about Simon.”

“Yes, sir,” Alec said, giving Jace a mock salute.

“Shut up and go read,” Jace said. “I’m taking Shadow and going to my room.”

Jace ignored the snickering from Clary, Izzy and Alec and headed to his room. He was pretty proud of his sketches - they were a fair likeness to Simon. He even managed to capture Simon’s strong chin, toothy smile and striking eyes … 

“What am I thinking?” Jace asked as he got to his room, closing the door behind him and setting Shadow on his bed. “Strong chin? Striking eyes? This is Simon I’m talking about!”

Shadow let out a ‘meow’ and padded to the end of the bed, sitting and watching Jace curiously.

“Always in the way, never stops talking,” Jace said. “Loyal. Brave. Funny.” He signed as he grabbed some pajamas and went into the bathroom. When he exited a few minutes later in pajama pants with his hair pulled back, he found Shadow on the floor in front of the bed, watching the bathroom carefully.

“You knew where I was,” Jace said, picking Shadow up and putting him back on the bed before slipping under the covers and turning the light off. “Didn’t have to play guard cat.”

Shadow let out a soft ‘meow’ and carefully climbed onto Jace’s stomach, curling up into a ball and falling asleep.

“Yeah,” Jace said, petting Shadow as his eyes drifted closed. “Thanks for watching over me.”

* * * 

Jace groaned as sunlight hit his face and, as he started to wake, realized a few things.

1\. He wasn’t alone in bed.  
2\. The person in bed with him was naked.  
3\. The naked person in bed with him was male, judging by the slightly stubbled cheek rubbing against his cheek and the morning wood poking his hip.  
4\. The naked man in his bed was wrapped around him like Jace would float up to the ceiling if let go.

Jace shifted a bit and slowly opened his eyes. He glanced down and froze - he recognized that dark brown hair, a bit longish and slightly curly.

“S-simon,” Jace said, wincing as he stuttered.

“Fi’ more mi’utes,” Simon mumbled, snuggling closer and rubbing his cheek against Jace’s chest again.

Jace groaned and rubbed his face. “Simon,” he said again, a bit louder. “You need to wake up.”

The look on Simon’s face when he opened his eyes and realized that he was in Jace’s bed and naked was … Jace admitted it was a bit comical.

“J-jace?” Simon asked, sitting up a bit. “What … what am I doing here?”

Jace watched Simon carefully, his eyes widening a bit as he saw the blue collar around Simon’s neck, Shadow’s tag hanging from it. “Shadow,” he said. “You were Shadow.”

Simon reached up and touched the collar around his neck. “Cat,” he said. “I was … the Seelie Queen!”

“That’s what I thought,” Jace said as he sat up and faced Simon. “Somehow I was the only person who remembered you. Magnus thinks it’s because whatever happened to you happened while I was gone.”

“I went there to save Maia,” Simon said. “And the Seelie Queen wanted to keep me there. I told her no.”

“Saying no to the Seelie Queen is a dangerous thing,” Jace said quietly.

Simon nodded, reaching up the play with the tag hanging from the collar that was somehow still around his neck. “She said that I could leave,” he started, “but she said that I wouldn’t leave as me. Then suddenly I was a cat and one of the Seelies took me away. Wait, you said you were gone, where did you go?”

Jace didn’t respond immediately, instead he reached around and carefully removed the collar from around Simon’s neck. “I died,” he said softly. “But Clary killed her father and used the Mortal Instruments to get an angel to bring me back.”

“You were dead?” Simon asked. “Are you … are you okay?”

Jace shrugged. “As okay as I can be, I guess,” he said. “Funny enough, having that little kitten follow me around the past week was really comforting.” He bit his lip and glanced over at Simon.

“You kept me in the pocket of your hoodies,” Simon whispered, looking down at his hands. “Let me crawl all over you.”

“I did,” Jace replied softly. “You’re kind of adorable.”

Simon glanced up at Jace. “As a cat?”

Jace shrugged. “As a cat,” he agreed, “and in your current form. Being the only person in the world who remembered you, trying to help everyone else remember you, gave me a lot think about it. Made me examine a few things. Like my feelings for you.”

“Feelings,” Simone repeated. “For me?”

Jace nodded. “Trying to tell everyone everything I knew about you,” he said. “Which, admittedly, isn’t a lot, forced me to really focus on you. I mean, even Clary didn’t remember you.”

“Something must have happened for me to change back,” Simon said.

“Maybe everyone else finally remembered you,” Jace replied.

“With your help,” Simon whispered. “You helped break the spell.”

Jace just shrugged. “It was too quiet without you around,” he mumbled.

“I do remember a bit more,” Simon said. “From my time as a kitten.”

“Yeah?” Jace asked.

“You like to walk around your room naked,” Simon said with a wide smile.

“My room,” Jace said. “Don’t have to wear clothes in here if I don’t want to.”

“I’m not complaining,” Simon said. “Feel free to keep doing it.”

Jace laughed. “How about,” he said as he leaned in closer, “we go on a date or two first. And work our way up to mutual nakedness.”

“But I’m already naked,” Simon whispered. “You should level the playing field.”

Jace leaned in a bit closer, close enough to kiss Simon. “Okay,” Jace whispered back, then suddenly climbed out of bed, rummaged around in his dresser for a minute and tossed Simon a pair of sweats. “Playing field leveled.”

“Not what I meant,” Simon muttered, but moved to sit on the other side of the bed and got the sweats on. He stood and made his way around the bed, stopping at Jace’s side.

“I know it’s not what you meant,” Jace replied. “But I meant what I said - date first, then work our way up to mutual nakedness.”

“Jace Herondale, secret romantic,” Simon said, fluttering his eyelashes. “Be still my heart.”

“You’re a vampire, it’s already still,” Jace said, leaning in and pressing a kiss to Simon’s nose.

“Ack!”

Jace grinned and grabbed t-shirts for both himself and Simon.

“Jace! Jace! I remember -” Jace’s bedroom door opened and Izzy stood in the doorway. “Simon. Hi Simon.”

“Izzy,” Simon replied as he tugged the t-shirt on that Jace passed him.

“What are you doing here?” Izzy asked, grinning.

“Simon was Shadow,” Jace explained as he tugged his shirt on.

“Simon was Shadow,” Izzy repeated.

“The Seelie Queen turned me into a kitten,” Simon said. “Jace remembered me, helped you guys to remember and I turned back.”

“Interesting,” Izzy said. “By the way Jace, you write very well. Very poetic.”

“You wrote about me?” Simon said, turning to smile at Jace.

“Looking at a drawing wouldn’t be enough,” Jace said with a shrug.

“Can I read what you wrote?” Simon asked.

“No,” Jace said as Izzy said “Yes”.

“I’ll show you later,” Izzy said to Simon.

“But first, breakfast,” Jace said.

“Please,” Simon said. “Can we go somewhere? Chicken and cat food for a week left me hungry for real food. Pancakes? Please?”

“Sure,” Jace said as he moved to Simon’s side and pressed a soft kiss to Simon’s cheek.

“Can Clary, Alec and I come?” Izzy asked.

“No,” Jace said. “We can all have lunch together later. But Simon and I are going alone.”

“First date?” Simon asked.

“First date,” Jace said. “Gotta start getting those dates in.”

“Mutual nakedness,” Simon said with a nod.

“Oh my god you two are adorable,” Izzy said. “I have to go tell Clary. And Alec.” She bounced on the balls of her feet, clapped happily and then practically ran in the direction of Clary’s room.

Jace rolled his eyes, snagged Simon’s hand and dragged him from the room, leading the way out of the Institute. “Let’s go before she tells the entire Institute,” he muttered.

“Thanks for breaking the spell,” Simon said once they were outside.

“I’m glad I did,” Jace said. “Now, where do I go to get these pancakes?”

“I know just the place,” Simon said, giving Jace’s hand a squeeze as they set off down the street. “You know, I think it’s going to be a really good day.”

Jace glanced over at Simon and smiled. “Me too,” he whispered. “Me too.”


End file.
